The Lennon Sessions [Paperback]

Tony Davilio with Mary Vicario (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 6, 2006

A behind the scenes look at John Lennon\'s last recording sessions for "Double Fantasy" as told by arranger Tony Davilio.

Product Details

• Paperback: 142 pages
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing (July 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 141202479X
• ISBN-13: 978-1412024792
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,489,314 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars DON'T Waste Your Money!, December 11, 2009

By 

Gary Scott "garys869" (Columbus, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Lennon Sessions (Kindle Edition)

Boy, was I SORRY I purchased this book.

I have *never* written a bad review on amazon.com before, indeed I've written very few of them, but this offering is so utterly horrible I feel compelled to warn other people.

This is like reading the audio ramblings of a very stoned or incoherent person trying to piece together something resembling a story. I struggle to find the words to describe just how bad this book is. There *are* little tidbits of interesting factoids surrounding Lennon, these sessions, his life and apartment, etc. Put together, these sentences might fill 8-10 pages or so. The rest of the book is padded with info about the author's childhood, his father, his career recording other artists, etc.

It is really too bad that this thing was self-published in this kind of state. The author obviously has some decent memories of his time recording this album and this is an under-reported and very notable period in Lennon's short life. How I wish the "author" had hooked up with a proper writer who could field and note his memories and observations and present them to us in a coherent and interesting fashion. There is obviously an interesting story trying to be told here, but as it stands this tome is like reading the amateurish, scrap-book rambling thoughts of a fifth grader [complete with spelling and grammatical errors].

I feel really bad about offering this review, but I feel I have to. Someday perhaps a good book along these subject lines will appear.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Insight Into 'Double Fantasy' Sessions, September 20, 2004

By 

Scott K E Lanaway (Toronto) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lennon Sessions (Paperback)

As a musician and Lennon fan I was curious to get an insider's look into the Double Fantasy recording sessions.

The author worked closely with Lennon for many months as an arranger on the album, and this book is full of interesting and fascinating personal anecdotes.

This book could have benefitted from a serious proof-reading. It is full of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. A bit of editorial work on the content would have been beneficial as the thoughts seem a bit scattered or incomplete at times, with ill-executed sentence structures. (Almost as if conversational english were employed with little effort to adapt to the printed page).

Also, quite oddly, the typeface is a horrible and large font, bordering on children's book size. I guess they figured it would give them a higher page-count but it looks silly. It takes about 7 seconds to read a page.

The author seems sincere and genuine in his accounting of his experiences working with Lennon. There are enough insights here to interest musicians or casual fans of Lennon's art.

I would have preffered if the author had gone deeper into emotionally descriptive realms (I mean, what was it really like to find yourself working with Lennon...) but instead we have here a worthwhile collection of short anecdotes.

A worthwhile read to be sure (I enjoyed it), but a it's bit cheecky to sell this as a fully fleshed out book.

5.0 out of 5 stars The Lennon Sessions, April 4, 2009

By 

S. C. Yabsley (Perth, Western Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Lennon Sessions (Paperback)

To find a book about John & Yoko's last year together I thought would be difficult. This book has a very personable feel about it. Compared to some titles about Lennon they come across as very clinical. If you like anything Lennon, I recommend giving this book a go. The recording sessions are detailed and revealing, you feel you're there in the control room.